My Blog

Last week, I followed the proceedings of the Church of England's General Synod, via my computer. I have to admit, the whole affair has left me a bit heartbroken. While the Church of England did acknowledge the Anglican Church of North America (ACNA), they did not officially recognize them as being genuinely Anglican. This is good and bad, in my mind. First of all, maybe not being in communion with the Archbishop of Canterbury isn't such a bad thing, given the fact that he's quite possibly a liberal flake. However, I know for many Anglicans, the issue has historical and emotional ties, and I don't take that lightly. But maybe conservative, orthodox (read: biblical) Anglicans need to stop trying to be recognized by the liberal wing. Maybe the idea needs to be reframed as "hey, liberals, we don't recognize you! You all are the ones in exile, not us." I know this is easier said than done for the actual conservatives in the Church of England, because of the legal status of the church in that country. However, in America, we can do what we want, thank you very much (for now, anyway). I believe the conservatives should set the rules for what it means to be Anglican, completely break away from the liberal crowd that is simply "playing church," and move on!

However, I feel very sad because following the General Synod has shown me just how godless the once great land of England has become. Being an armature genealogist, and researching my family tree quite extensively, I know that the majority of my people come from Great Britain. I also know many of them were Anglicans. I have read some of their papers they left behind, and believe a good number of them to have been godly men who had firm grasps on the Gospel. It saddens me greatly to see the homeland of my ancestors being overrun by atheism and even Islamic Sharia law. It saddens me that a once great branch of Christianity has been overrun by liberals who don't know the first thing about the Bible, but rather want to use a church to press their intolerant, hate filled agendas. You might not know it today, but did you know the Church of England (and her American counterpart the Episcopal Church) has brought us some great Christian men through-out history!

• C.S. Lewis-one of the greatest apologists of all time (not to mention an all around brilliant scholar and a great fiction writer)
• J.I. Packer-he's one of the greatest and most influential modern day theologians we have!
• Alister McGrath-another great modern day theologian and apologist
• John Newton-Church of England pastor and writer of perhaps the most famous hymn ever composted, Amazing Grace
• Early U.S. presidents such as George Washington, James Madison, James Monroe
• George Whitefield, a key preacher in the Great Awakening
• Author T.S. Elliott

Some evangelicals might argue the Anglican Church is irrelevant and not needed today. I disagree. It is needed! It has often been commented that the Anglican movement is a "middle path" between Catholicism and Protestantism. Many Christians cannot, in good conscience, follow the Papacy, and other unbiblical doctrines found within the Church of Rome. However, they recognize the historical place of the Catholic Church, apostolic succession, and the early church fathers, and don't want to "throw the baby out with the bathwater." For these Christians, a conservative, biblically based Anglican Church would be (and in the past has been) the solution. Although for most of my life I was part of the Southern Baptist movement (though I am not affiliated with that denomination any longer), I still see the need for the Anglican Church to continue! And I hope you will join me in praying that God revives this once great movement, and wakes up the people of England to accept the Gospel!

America needs Jay Leno. I'm not going to go into who was wronged by NBC (it's my opinion that Leno and O'Brien both were). And I'm not going to go into who the Tonight Show rightfully belongs to. O'Brien is a talented guy, and honestly, he's done better on Tonight than I thought he'd do. He's been great at tailoring his comedy to not only appeal to the college age audience he was popular with on Late Night. That being said, he's having trouble in his current spot because the older crowd the Tonight Show was popular with probably won't ever accept him...because they won't ever even give him a chance. They just stopped watching after Jay's last show.

I wish O'Brien all the best and hope he can find a spot where he will be fully appreciated. I also hope Jay Leno will come out with his own show, on some network. Maybe NBC isn't the best place for either of them (man, that would teach the network a lesson!). But, wherever he goes, we need Jay.

Leno is an old fashioned comedian, like Bob Hope (I know I'm not the first to make that comparison, but I'll use it because it is accurate); he sort of appeals to everyone. His comedy is not mean spirited, and not particularly offensive. He makes fun of the Right, but he also makes fun of the Left. He's a truly bipartisan entertainer, and that's the way it should be. He doesn't push an agenda, except laughter. Sure, not all of his jokes work, but even Hope had misfires. But who else is there to be "America's Comedian?" Dave Letterman is talented (although he seems to be slipping, in my opinion), but the Late Show has become essentially "DNC TV." His whole monologues seem to be spent (still) making fun of G.W. and Dick Cheney. Hey Dave, they're not in office. Get over it. Obama is a comedy gold mine, but he completely ignores him, except when he's gushing over him. Plus, with Letterman's recent moral shortcomings exposed...well, no one's perfect...but I won't elaborate. Let's just say I don't see him appealing to everyone the way Leno seems to.

Jon Stewart is the same way-extremely partisan! Jimmy Kimmel can be funny, but again, not really appealing to the mainstream. Craig Ferguson, in my opinion, is very sharp witted and often hilarious, and I only hope he replaces Letterman when Dave finally retires. But, again, he doesn't have the "everyman" quality Leno does.

So, that's why I hope Jay Leno sticks around. We need someone who can just make us laugh, and not take sides. Maybe Leno's what Obama lied about being; someone who's above politics and party bickering. Some critics claim Leno is "too safe" and not "edgy" enough. But, as is the case so many times, critics can be grossly out of touch with normal, mainstream America. We don't always want someone controversial. We don't want someone who's constantly in the spotlight for the wrong reasons. A comedian like Jay, who seems to have integrity and morals, even being married to the same lady for twenty plus years (there's a rare one in Hollywood), is what many of us want! Safe is just fine, as far as I'm concerned. So, here's hoping Jay has many more monologues to come.